Buffalo Bills: Offense stagnant as they fall to the Panthers and drop to 1-1

The Buffalo Bills played their second game of 2017 on Sunday at the Carolina Panthers. Both defenses were stellar but the Bills’ offense mightily struggled.

The Buffalo Bills were unsuccessful in their quest to go 2-0. They fell to the Panthers by a lackluster score of 9-3.

The Panthers’ defense held their own, and then some, all the way up until the Bills had a chance to win late in the 4th quarter.

LeSean McCoy looked lost as he failed to rush for more than 10 yards. He did, however, and oddly enough, receive for 34 yards.

Tyrod Taylor had an underwhelming performance as well. He failed to throw any TDs and passed for only 125 yards. He did lead the team in rushing with 55 yards.

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Jordan Poyer thrived again as he had seven solo tackles.

Ramon Humber also had another stellar performance, with seven solo tackles.

Buffalo’s pass rush was definitely the best thing to watch during this game. They pressured and made Cam Newton run around all game.

The Buffalo Bills finished with six total sacks. Poyer, recorded one and Jerry Hughes led the way with two.

Cam Newton and the Panthers’ offensive line did not have much of an answer to the Bills’ tactics.

Newton finished the game with 228 yards, but 12 incompletions and a not so promising 51. 6 quarterback rating.

The Panthers failed to score a ton of points and Cam Newton played below average. The Panthers dominated the BIlls in time of possession.

Carolina had the ball for just under 39 total minutes.

As we noted earlier this week, the Panthers’ defense was going to be a huge obstacle for the Bills, keeping them off the field that long and allowing them to be fresh each drive was a recipe for disaster.

The Bills’ defense played borderline outstanding, but failed to generate any turnovers or drastic swings in momentum.

The Bills had a huge opportunity to score a TD to tie and potentially win the game with under 30 seconds left.

They were set up with a 4th and 11, Taylor almost connected with rookie Zay Jones for the first down, and maybe touchdown, but the slightly errant throw went off Jones’ finger tips forcing the turnover on downs.

Jones was very hard on himself after the game, much to the chagrin of his teammates and Head Coach Sean McDermott.

The Bills defense played solid and kept them in the game, but the offense looked lost and out of sync.

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Thus, leaving a rather contradicting feeling for the Bills Mafia.

The loss puts the Bills at 1-1 and knocks them out of first place in the AFC East.

There are a ton of games to adjust and get better on offense.

Next week, the Bills return to New Era Field to host the 2-0 Denver Broncos.

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